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Muz., 2018(59): 68-78 Rocznik, eISSN 2391-4815 received – 04.2018 reviewed – 04.2018 accepted – 05.2018 DOI: 10.5604/01.3001.0012.0741 MUSEUMS OF THE LOST “GERMAN EAST”. CONDITIONS OF OPERATING AND THE EVOLUTION OF EXHIBITIONS IN THE POLISH-GERMAN CONTEXT

Magdalena Izabella Sacha Chair of Cultural Studies, Faculty of Languages at the University of Gdańsk

Abstract: The article discusses so-called East German is the focus of museums as well as science and culture museums and the way they operate in the light of institutions in contemporary . The article presents a document ratified by the Bundestag in 2016. The a survey of East German museums – the East Prussian document in question concerns the further progress of Museum (Ostpreuβisches Landesmuseum) in Lüneburg, implementing the provisions of paragraph 96 of the German the West Prussian State Museum (Westpreuβisches Law on Expelled Ethnic and (BVFG) of Landesmuseum) in Warendorf, the State Museum of 1953, popularly referred to as the “cultural paragraph”. The (Pommersches Landesmuseum) in , concept of the “German East” bears reference to the historic and the (Schlesisches Museum) in Görlitz territories of pre-1945 German settlements whose heritage – interested in, i.a. territories at present belonging to .

Keywords: “German East”, East German museums, paragraph 96 of the German Law on Expelled Ethnic Germans and Refugees (1953), .

One of the permanent outcomes of the Second World War culture subsequently useful in creating memory sites (the was shifting the and Germany and the famous lieux de mémoire proposed by Pierre Nora – cultural ensuing compulsory resettlement of the German, Polish, orientation points, places, practices, and expressions and Jewish population to the West. The Germans lost their produced by a joint past, both material – monuments, “German East” (deutscher Osten), and the – the and intangible – language and traditions). Memory sites Eastern Borderlands. On their way to the West the exiles assumed the form of chambers and museums making were accompanied by objects of everyday use, skills, and possible the preservation and dissemination of the cultural memories, i.e. artefacts and an awareness of intangible achievements of lost homelands and the integration of

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the scattered communities of the deportees, in which numerous cultural, scientific, and museum institutions via German “expellees” (Vertriebene)1 enjoyed, and still do, the state support for several selected museums by means of opportunity to present their cultural legacy on a permanent a suitably prepared scientific and teaching staff as well as basis. These facilities underwent a significant evolution from by expanding existing museums and erecting new ones, the 1950s to the present. A special role in German memory which are to accumulate, preserve, and present the cultural policy is performed by so-called East German museums heritage of the so-called German East. (ostdeutsche Museen) referring to particular historical In 2016 this Conception 2000 was reformulated by of the “German East”, lost in 1945. From the the cabinet of Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) restoring viewpoint of Polish museum curators, particular attention due place to the activity and tradition of homeland is due to museums presenting the history and heritage of associations and establishing new targets for the future. terrains (North and West Lands) lost by the Germans to The latter were to continue work connected with existing post-war Poland (and described by post-war communist or emerging so-called East German museums, libraries, propaganda as Recovered Territories). Today this is part of and scientific institutes as well as the strategic Foundation our joint history – a narration about the past of territories Flight, Expulsion, Reconciliation in (Stiftung Flucht, comprising one-third of Poland and populated by 10 million Vertreibung, Versöhnung – SFVV). Particular emphasis was inhabitants. How do the so-called East German museums placed on three aspects: 1) the inter-generational transfer shape this narration vis à vis the West – and Central- of collective memory about the “German East” thanks to European public? digitisation and digitalisation; 2) the necessity of reaching target groups in German society, e.g. assorted so-called “East German museums” – foundations late emigrants of German descent (Spätaussiedler) and and conditions of activity contemporary migrants from all over the world; 3) the necessity of continuing international co-operation with This outline presents selected museums known as East scientific and museum institutions in East-Central , German by characterizing their legal bases, conditions of making it possible to show German contribution to the work, and permanent expositions. An explanation is due to history and culture of this part of Europe and its acceptance the applied concepts: (Ostdeutschland) and by the current inhabitants of those terrains. “German East” (deutscher Osten), which translated could be This successive conception (earlier ones originate from mistaken for the commonly used name of the former German 1982 and 2000) refers to §96 of the Federal Expellee Law Democratic Republic – DDR.2 Historically, however, “East – a legal act accepted in 1953 by the Konrad Adenauer Germany” was used to describe terrains belonging to Germany, government. In 1957 the contents of this paragraph were located to the east of the , and lost after the Second World supplemented by adding, i.a. museums and enjoining the War to Poland and . An even wider concept governments of particular Lands and the federal government of ”German East”3 pertains to German settlement lands in to promulgate the heritage of German expellees and exiles. Central and South- regardless of their state and The content of §96, unchanged from 1957, is as follows: administration affiliation. They constitute a cultural area that Federal and State Governments are to preserve the cultural remains in the center of the interests and work of museums heritage from the expulsion regions in the consciousness known as East German and cultural functionaries affiliated by of expellees and refugees, the entire German nation and the Federal Republic of Germany. It was universally believed abroad according to the jurisdiction granted by the German that until cultural memory about the “German East” does not Constitutional Law. They must safeguard, supplement and perish this part of the homeland would not be lost. Scientific- expand archives, museums and libraries, as well as promote historical work on memory, its transference and popularisation and support establishments for the production of art and in schools by means of education addressed to adults, the education. Governments have to promote science and museums, and the media, prove to be an equally important research in the fulfilment of tasks arising from the expulsion and in no case apolitical activity.4 and the integration of expellees and refugees, as well as the Let us take a closer look at the current legal situation. development of the cultural achievements of expellees and In April 2016 the Bundestag proposed a discussion on refugees. The Federal Government reports annually to the a document concerning the development of the conception Bundestag on the activities undertaken.8 of studying, preserving, presenting, and popularising German From the point of view of Polish museum curators the culture and history in East Europe in accordance with §96 of activity of so-called East German museums deserves more the German Law on Expelled Ethnic Germans and Refugees attention than has been the case up to now, since the (BVFG),5 presented by Minister Monika Grütters (CDU), majority of German institutions financed upon the basis who at the time served as Commissioner for Culture and of the earlier cited paragraph a narration about historical the Media.6 The previous conception of the realisation terrains, which from the end of World War II comprise a of §96, universally known as the cultural paragraph,7 was significant part of Polish territory: East ( and approved in 2000 by the cabinet of Gerhard Schröder (SPD). ), (Gdańsk Pomerania), Central and At that time the prime objectives of the West German East Pomerania, and . Dramatically abandoned by government included: 1) shifting the center of gravity from the Germans these lands were settled by the Poles, mainly supporting German homeland societies of the expellees incomers from the Eastern Borderlands (Kresowianie), to the development of international co-operation with i.e. alleged repatriates (actually expatriates) forced to neighboring states in a Europe undergoing unification; leave their homes in former Eastern Borderlands. German 2) greater professionalisation of the work conducted by deportees, who in the democratic Federal Republic created

www.muzealnictworocznik.com MUZEALNICTWO 59 157 an electorate of more than 10 million votes,9 enjoyed the Centre at the Silesian House (Haus Schlesien)22 in opportunity to commemorate their small homelands Königswinter (North Rhine-Westphalia), and the East (Kleine Heimat) in several hundred homeland chambers/ Prussian Culture Centre (Kulturzentrum Ostpreuβen)23 in rooms (Heimatstuben)10 and in East German land museums Ellingen (Bavaria) received financial support for research (ostdeutsche Landesmuseen) developing from the 1970s and projects. In addition, two new museums were established cultivating the memory of particular lost regions.11 Museums with government support: the Sudeten German Museum were erected and expanded, and the central institution (Sudetendeutsches Museum)24 in and the accumulating and exhibiting the collections of homeland Museum of Russian-German Cultural History (Museum chambers assumed the form of a seat of the SFVV Foundation für Russlanddeutsche Kulturgeschichte)25 in Detmold. The at the German House (Deutschlandhaus) in Berlin.12 construction of the above-mentioned central institution in In 2016 the Federal Government Commissioner for Berlin (Foundation SFVV) is under way.26 Culture and the Media offered permanent institutional According to Minister Grütters in 2015 the German support for six museums known as East German and located government allotted 22.3 million € for the realisation of in four old and two new Lands,13 i.e. the Danube Swabian all tasks envisaged in §96.27 In 2016 steady institutional Museum (Donauschwäbisches Zentralmuseum)14 in Ulm means intended for the activity of six so-called East German (Baden-Württemberg), the East Prussian State Museum museums were to total: for the Art Forum East German (Ostpreuβisches Landesmuseum)15 in Lüneburg (Lower Gallery in Regensburg – 647 000 € (47.17% of annual ), the State Museum of Pomerania (Pommersches expenses); for the East Prussian State Museum in Lüneburg Landesmuseum)16 in Greifswald (-Vorpommern/ – 754 000 € (66.49% of annual expenses); for the State Mecklenburg-West Pomerania), the Silesian Museum Museum of Pomerania in Greifswald – 710 000 € (45.13% of (Schlesisches Museum)17 in Görlitz (Saxony), the West annual expenses); for the Silesian Museum in Görlitz – 592 Prussian State Museum (Westpreuβisches Landesmuseum)18 000 € (48.21% of annual expenses); for the West Prussian in Warendorf (North Rhine-Westphalia,) and the Art Forum State Museum in Warendorf – 628 000 € (81.88% of annual East German Gallery (Kunstforum Ostdeutsche Galerie)19 in expenses); and for the Danube Swabian Museum in Ulm – 487 Regensburg (Bavaria).20 000 € (56.66% of annual expenses). Alltold, the government Three institutions in the old Lands: the Transylvanian allotted 3 818 000 €. Museums do not cover all the costs Museum (Siebenbürgisches Museum)21 in Gundelsheim of functioning since according to §96 state support must be (Baden-Württemberg), the Documentation and Information supplemented by an equal or similar sum provided by the

1. Entrance to the East Prussian State Museum in Lüneburg

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2. Staged scene showing a German family escaping across the Lagoon in winter 1945 – historical diorama at a former permanent exhibition at the East Prussian State Museum in Lüneburg self-governments of Lands and towns. Budget funds intended it was destroyed by fire – is the East Prussian State Museum for projects, which in 2016 amounted to 3 186 000 €, in Lüneburg (Lower Saxony); after 1945 this terrain became sustained, i.a. the Transylvanian Museum in Gundelsheim, the main of the resettlements of Germans escaping Haus Schlesien in Königswinter, and the East Prussian Culture from former divided between Poland and Centre in Ellingen. the USSR (today: between Poland, , and ). Reports show that so-called East German museums In 1958, upon the initiative of forester Hans-Ludwig subsidised by the state budget and supported financially Loeffke from Tilsitz, the East Prussian Hunting Museum by the Federation enjoy the stable interest of the visitors. By (Ostpreuβisches Jagdmuseum), accumulating artefacts way of example, in 2009–201028 permanent and temporary connected with Nature, was opened in one of the Old exhibitions held in these institutions were toured by 386 000 Town houses in Lüneburg.29 A year later the collection was visitors, while temporary exhibitions organised by museums, devastated by fire, but in 1964, after the amassment of new and loaned to other institutions at home and abroad, exhibits, the Museum was reopened with the support of the attracted another 353 000 visitors. town and commune of Lüneburg, the Land of Lower Saxony, and the federal government. Lost regions as the theme of German Up to the 1980s the Museum existed – like the majority museum expositions of similar institutions – thanks to voluntary work performed by the resettled. In 1982, however, the government of As this abbreviated list shows, in the majority of contemporary Chancellor Helmut Kohl (CDU) decided to professionalise museums known as “East German” the prime domain of the activity of selected institutions, which were to cultivate interest consists of terrains granted after World War II to the history and culture of lost Eastern provinces.30 Poland, which as such today comprise a joint cultural heritage. Work was commenced on erecting a new museum in The next part of this article presents, in chronological order, Lüneburg renamed the East Prussian Regional Museum. institutions enjoying support guaranteed by §96 and referring The 3000 sq. m. building was opened to the public in 1987 to present day Polish Western and Northern Territories. and it was only then that its staff received full-time jobs. A museum that could have been the original model for the From that moment the institution was financially secured Masuria regional chamber described by in the – upon the basis of the implementation of §96 – jointly by the novel Heimatmuseum – since just like its literary counterpart government and the Land. From 1990 its successive directors

www.muzealnictworocznik.com MUZEALNICTWO 59 159 were academicians; from 2009 the function is fulfilled by of West Prussia: Toruń, Elbląg, and Gdańsk; d) the years Dr Joachim Mähnert engaged in the implementation of 1772–1920: showrooms dedicated to Emperor Frederick a new conception of redesigning the Museum and the the Great and the progress of agriculture; e) the events of permanent exhibition as a result of, i.a. incorporating 1920–1945 in West Prussia (the Polish-German controversy a branch of into the East Prussian Culture involving “the ” – a region separating East Fund (Ostpreuβisches Kulturstiftung) running the Museum. Prussia from the rest of Germany); the outbreak of the The inclusion of a homeland association (Baltendeutsche) Second World War depicted as an attack launched by the made it possible to combine financial means and imposed Poles against the German civilians of – so-called the expansion of the exhibition by embracing East Prussia Bromberger Blutsonntag; the escape and expulsion of the and Baltic countries with historical German settlements Germans in 1945 shown as the end of the history of West (Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia). This step, in turn, initiated the Prussia – migration to Westphalia.34 purchase of adjoining real estate and the creation of a new This historical-mythological narration was considerably permanent exposition to be opened, after several years of corrected by the new exhibition presented in Warendorf. being closed, in August 2018. First and foremost, an introduction presents the region The discontinued exposition showed the natural of West Prussia as a land with a diverse and multi-ethnic environment, history, and economy of East Prussia with history35 and contemporary photographs inspire to visit particular attention paid to the accomplishments of German Polish Gdańsk Pomerania. An exposition of Expressionist civilisation in the East.31 Such historical protagonists as paintings by Bruno Kraus Kopf tells about art persecuted Queen Louise of Prussia or Emmanuel Kant symbolised the by the Nazis. The center of the exhibition is a showroom greatness and power of German politics and philosophy32. featuring artefacts from the time of , Special attention was dedicated to the plight of the expelled, i.e. a period of its affiliation to the Polish-Lithuanian portrayed by a diorama showing a family fleeing across the Commonwealth, including the breath-taking so-called iced-over . The highlight of the exposition Gdańsk Tapestry from 1620. The depiction of World War II was thus a staging typical for homeland museums and takes into consideration the Polish perspective – the staging depicting a dramatic wintertime escape from East Prussia33 features inmates’ bunks in the Stutthof concentration camp by using mannequins in period costumes, a cart, a sled, and tree trunks exhibiting portrait photographs of Poles and a Fluchtgepäck, i.e. a ’s rucksack. The history and executed by the Germans in Piaśnica near of East Prussia after the dissolution of 1945 was absent at . Within this context, a display of the exiles’ the previous exhibition – presumably, the new conception luggage, so essential in so-called East German museums, will change this, as was the case in recent years at the West becomes a link in a chain of events and not solely – as Prussian State Museum in North Rhine-Westphalia. has been the case up to now – a symbol of resettlements The Regional Museum for West Prussia has its roots in conceived as unjust. The new exhibition testifies to the the Centre for Documentation and West Prussian Culture mental and intellectual turnabout, which took place in established in 1975 in Münster-Wolbeck. Localisation in Germany after the expansion of the Union and corresponds Münsterland, a region bordering with the , to the philosophy pursued by the federal movement was the outcome of so-called sponsorship (Patenschaft), assuming closer co-operation with Central European states: which in 1960 the local self-government of Westfalen- (...) We should not concentrate our collective memory Lippe offered to the West Prussian Homeland Society excessively on the terrible end but, at the same time, (Landmannschaft). In 1983 the Centre changed its name accentuate that, which the Germans accomplished for many to West Prussian Museum, which in 1991 was granted the centuries prior to expulsion, without finding ourselves in a status of an East German state museum and the financial permanent state of conflict but on numerous occasions by support of the Federation government. In 1998 the author co-operating with our neighbors in the East.36 of the Museum – Hans-Jürgen Schacht – entrusted it to his The East Prussian State Museum and the West Prussian successor: art historian Lothar Hyss, Ph.D., brought up in State Museum are examples of institutions established after Polish Silesia. Already a year later Dr Hyss established the Second World War by the homeland societies of the close co-operation with the museum institutions of Gdańsk expellees, painfully conscious of the irretrievable loss of Pomerania (i.e. the Grudziądz Museum, the National their former land of birth and the necessity of preserving Museum in Gdańsk, the Central Maritime Museum in the memory of the historical civilisational mission in Gdańsk, the Museum of the Puck Region), initiating the the East. At the same time, such museums served the creation of a Polish branch of the German museum at the integration of forced migrants and the local population,37 Regional Museum in Krokowa (county of Puck). consequently creating an image of Germans from the A significant caesura in the activity of this Museum is East as legitimate participants of German culture. The its transference in 2013–2014 to a new seat in a former almost 4 million strong community of those resettled to Franciscan monastery in Warendorf. The adaptation of the German Democratic Republic was deprived of such an this building for museum needs became an occasion for opportunity. This was the reason why after the unification reformulating the conception of a permanent exhibition. of Germany the implementation of §96 was expanded so as The former exposition from the 1976–2013 period was to encompass so-called new Lands, resulting in the creation based on a chronological-thematic presentation whose of two modern museum institutions: the Silesian Museum in dominating components included: a) the period of the rule Görlitz and the State Museum of Pomerania in Greifswald, of the ; b) the period after the rule of the the only so-called East German museums to be opened in Teutonic Order [sic!]; c) a presentation of three great towns a suitable region, i.e. Silesia and Pomerania. The obvious

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3. Introduction to a permanent exhibition in a former cloister – seven exhi- 4. Space for museum educational activity – so-called Gdańsk Room in the bits announce the main themes of an exposition at the West Prussian State West Prussian State Museum in Warendorf Museum in Warendorf

5. Historical period of Royal Prus- sia as the center of an exhibition – monumental Tapestry of Gdańsk presents the end of a denomina- tional dispute between the von Kempen and Bahr families, 1620 group of their stakeholders is not composed exclusively the role of an international forum – a meeting place within of the increasingly small milieu of the resettled but rather the region of the Baltic basin, a space conducive for the of local inhabitants and tourists. Co-operation with Polish realisation of trans-border projects.40 A painting gallery neighbors is extremely important for both sides. was opened in 2000, its chief attraction being the works The earliest professional museum institution in the of , a leading painter from the era Federal Republic of Germany – dating back to 1967 – was of German Romanticism. The entire Museum complex, the Foundation located not in Pomerania but in composed of six buildings in the center of the Old Town, Kiel (Schleswig-Holstein), where exiles from the East stored was completed in 2005. part of the most valuable collections from the evacuated From the very onset the Museum is closely associated art and painting gallery in . After the unification with the collection and research at the of Germany collections of the former Municipal Museum . The director of the Museum in Szczecin38 became the core of the State Museum of is Dr Uwe Schröder. The foundation board includes Pomerania in Greifswald39. The State Museum of Pomerania representatives of Germany, , and Poland and the Foundation was established in 1996 for the purpose of only non-German member of the scientific board is Dr Rafał presenting Pomeranian history and culture; it also plays Makała from Szczecin. Openness to the world is evidenced

www.muzealnictworocznik.com MUZEALNICTWO 59 161 6. The Massacre in Piaśnica installation features portraits of Poles and 7. Suitcases, sledges, and a doll symbolise the escape and exile of Germans Kashubians killed by the Nazis in 1939–1940 in a forest near Wejherowo from Gdańsk Pomerania in winter 1945

8. Main building of the State Museum of Pomerania in Greifswald/Gryfia located in a former abbey

by the main concept, composition, and technical design of to a presentation of diverse and variable German and Slav the permanent exhibition about the impact upon the shaping of this part of Europe. The most as well as its accessibility in five languages. Due to its valuable exhibit is the Croy Tapestry from 1554, 4 x 7 m. impressive capacity the Museum offers two permanent large and depicting the spreading of the in exhibitions: historical and art. The former is dedicated Pomerania and the union between Saxon and Pomeranian to the past of Pomerania, spanning from pre-historical from the Greifen/Gryfici dynasty. The exposition times to the end of the nineteenth century.41 Great care, on show in Greifswald is among the most modern and involving the use of multimedia techniques, has been given generously subsidised so-called East German museums.

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9. Monumental Croy Tapestry from 1554 showing the dissemination of the Reformation in Pomerania – most valuable piece on exhibit at the State Museum of Pomerania, possession of the Ernst Moritz Arndt University of Greifswald

(Photo. 1, 2 – © Ostpreußisches Landesmuseum Lüneburg; 3-7 – T. Hölscher, © Westpreußisches Landesmuseum Warendorf; 8, 9 – © Pommersches Landesmuseum Greifswald)

Work on a project of continuing the permanent exhibition in Ratingen, the Upper Silesian Museum in , the – preparations of a narration about the most difficult Museum of in Cieszyn, the Silesian Museum twentieth century – is being conducted with the participation in Katowice (and many other institutions in Polish Upper and of an international group of experts. The Museum proved to ) as well as the Silesian Museum in Czech . be highly successful – in a town with a population of about 55 000 it attracts ca. 40 000 visitors a year. *** The last but not least fragment of the cultural heritage of the “German East” and Polish Western Territories is The described examples of four so-called East German the Silesian Museum in Görlitz. This is one of two Silesian museums demonstrate the concern of the German state museums in the Federal Republic of Germany due to the for the cultural heritage of lost cultural regions, which existence of two homeland societies of German . decades later are becoming part of the common heritage The Museum director is Dr Markus Bauer.42 The founders of the states of Central and East Europe. Hence it appears – representatives of the Federation, the Free State of essential to postulate constant co-operation with Polish Saxony, the town of Görlitz, and the Silesian Homeland specialists and monitoring German museum narrations Society – created the foundation in 1996. Ten years later, about East Prussia, whose southern parts, i.e. Warmia and a permanent exhibition (2000 sq. m.) was opened in one of Masuria remained in Poland, about West Prussia, i.e. former the most interesting buildings of the Old Town Royal Prussia, about Pomerania, which the Poles call West in Schönhof. A presentation of Silesian arts and crafts from and the Germans – Hinterpommern (Further Pomerania), the seventeenth century to the nineteenth century. Everyday and, finally, about Upper and Lower Silesia. Museums items, examples of the crafts and industrial production, known as “East German” and reaching a wide European documents of urban life, and artworks portraying a detailed public comprise an inseparable and complementary likeness of Silesia in the nineteenth and twentieth century.43 component of the joint museum landscape of these The proximity of state frontiers is the reason why the territories. They underwent a transformation from places Museum is oriented toward Polish visitors (as evidenced integrating resettled persons cultivating memories of their by, i.a. numerous publications) and fits into a museum lost homeland to modern institutions serving the mission landscape dealing with the history of Silesia, alongside Haus of presenting German culture as a component of multi- Schlesien in Königswinter, Oberschlesisches Landesmuseum ethnic and multi-national European culture. In view of the

www.muzealnictworocznik.com MUZEALNICTWO 59 163 fact that they shape narration about the common history not become the object of a lasting policy or the concern of of lands, which at present constitute one-third of Poland the Polish state regarding constant support for Borderland they should enjoy even greater interest on the part of Polish museum initiatives. This phenomenon poses the threat of museum curators.44 They should also inspire reflections on a future dramatic imbalance in presenting to the museum the cultural heritage of the Kresowianie, who settled the public the heritage of the “German East” and the former Northern and Western Territories but whose heritage did Eastern Borderlands of the Polish Commonwealth/Republic.

Przypisy 1 In this text I use a precise translation of the term Vertriebene, i.e. “expellees”, sanctioned in German law (Bundesvertriebenengesetz from 1953). The legal category of expelled Germans encompasses three categories of migrants, i.e. exiles in 1944/1945 (fleeing the front and the ), expellees in 1945–1947 (due to agreements of the Allies and the Polish or Czechoslovak authorities), and re-settlers (who decided to leave several years after the end of wartime hostilities). This term is also important because it demonstrates the consistency with which the authorities of the Federal Republic of Germany forced through a concept endowed with political and emotional contents and which with all certainty reflected the trauma experienced by the Germans leaving their homeland; in Poland the Kresowanie (inhabitants of the Eastern Borderlands), expelled from their homelands, were known as ”repatriates”. Today, some of the Kresowianie, emulating the example of German expellees, postulate using this term accentuating the compulsory and irrevocable nature of deportations from the Eastern Borderlands, also in reference to them. 2 In reference to the present we are entitled to say that the former German East conceived as a political category has almost totally vanished from the collective memory of the younger generations of Germans. Today it is commonly used for describing, predominantly, the former German Democratic Republic (...) – Ch. Lehmann, “Niemiecki Wschód”, in: “Niemiecki Wschód”. Wyobrażenia-misja-dziedzictwo, Ch. Kleßmann (selection, introduction, prep.), I. Drozdowska-Broering, J. Kałążny (transl.), Wydawnictwo Nauka i Innowacje, Poznań 2014, p. 9. 3 (…) The formula of former German territory (ehemals deutsche Gebiete) is understood to mean the former provinces of the to the east of the Odra and the Nysa, namely, East and West Prussia, Pomerania and Silesia, as well as the historical regions of German settlements in East- – from a paper read by the Ministerial Counsellor at the Federal Ministry of the Interior, J. Martens, Museumspolitik für das Erbe ehemals deutscher Gebiete (transl. M. I. Sacha), in: “Museumskunde” 1993, 58 (2/3), p. 123. 4 E. Mühle, “Utracony niemiecki Wschód” w pamięci kulturowej nowo powstałej Republiki Federalnej Niemiec, Z. Mazur, M. Wagińska-Marzec (transl.), in: Wspólne dziedzictwo? Ze studiów nad stosunkiem do spuścizny kulturowej na Ziemiach Zachodnich i Północnych, Z. Mazur (ed.), Instytut Zachodni, “Ziemie Zachodnie. Studia i materiały” 2000, no. 22, p. 712. 5 Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media (2016): Development of the conception of studying, preserving, presenting, and popularising German culture and history in East Europe in accordance with §96 of the German Law on Expelled Ethnic Germans and Refugees (BVFG). Information of the Federal Government. Annex to a document of the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media of 24 February 2016. German Bundestag (Print no. 18/7730), accessible on: http://dipbt. bundestag.de/dip21/btd/18/077/1807730.pdf, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland (transl.). “East German museums” are discussed in point 3 on institutions supported by BKM and assistance in project realisation. 6 BKM – abbreviation of: Bundesbeauftragte für Kultur und Medien. 7 Kulturparagraph – commonly used description of §96. BVFG. 8 Gesetz über die Angelegenheiten der Vertriebenen und Flüchtlinge, Bonn 1992, p. 40, transl. after: B. Ociepka, Dziedzictwo wypędzonych, in: Wspólne dziedzictwo? ..., pp. 720-721, www.gesetze-im-internet.de/bundesrecht/bvfg/gesamt.pdf 9 Apart from 10 million Germans from the East in the Western zone (the Anglo-American Bizone – later: the German Federal Republic) 4 million exiles found themselves in the Soviet zone (later: Socialist German Democratic Republic – GDR) where, however, they had no right to speak publicly about the loss of their homeland. Within this context the situation of the Kresowianie resembled that of German expellees in the GDR – in view of Soviet interests their post-war plight was a forbidden topic. 10 Digital documentation of the collections of homeland societies, conducted in 2008–2012, encompasses 590 institutions located in Germany, cf. Bundesinstitut für Kultur und Geschichte der Deutschen im östlichen Europa [BKGE]: Dokumentation der Heimatsammlungen in Deutschland, accessible on: http://www.bkge.de/Heimatsammlungen/ [accessed on: 15 2018]. 11 Monograph on state policy and the activity of assorted types of East German homeland societies and museums – C. Eisler, Verwaltete Erinnerung – symbolische Politik. Die Heimatsammlungen der deutschen Flüchtlinge, Vertriebenen und Aussiedler, De Gruyter Oldenbourg, München 2015. 12 BKM is not, however, conceived as another so-called East German museum but as a superior institution; hence the conception of the exhibition will not be the topic of this survey, cf. S. Czerney, Flucht, Vertreibung, Versöhnung – zwischen nationaler und europäischer Historiographie, in: “Inter Finitimos. Jahrbuch zur deutsch-polnischen Beziehungsgeschichte” 2012, no. 10, pp. 149-158. 13 The term “old Lands” is commonly used to describe the Länder of while “new Lands” refer to the former GDR. Due to the political situation so-called East German museums could not be established in the “new Lands” until after the . 14 Home page, www.dzm-museum.de 15 Home page, www.ostpreussisches-landesmuseum.de 16 Home page, www.pommersches-landesmuseum.de 17 Home page, www.schlesisches-museum.de 18 Home page, www.westpreussisches-landesmuseum.de 19 Home page, www.kunstforum.net 20 In a further part of this article the names of museums are abbreviated. 21 Home page, www.siebenbuergisches-museum.de 22 Museum bookmark, www.hausschlesien.de/kulturbildung/museum

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23 Home page, www.kulturzentrum-ostpreussen.de 24 Foundation website, www.sudetendeutsche-stiftung.de; progress of the construction can be followed thanks to an Internet camera, baudoku.1000eyes. de/cam/probat/ACCC8E297DAC 25 Home page, www.russlanddeutsche.de 26 Home page, www.sfvv.de 27 Acc. to: Plenarprotokoll 18/168. Deutscher Bundestag. Stenografischer Bericht 168. Sitzung. Berlin, Freitag, den 29 April 2016, p. 16580. 28 Report 2009/2010 accessible on: http://www.ostdeutsche-museen.de/html/berichtp96bvfg.html [accessed on: 15 March 2018]. 29 After:Geschichte des Museums, http://www.ostpreussisches-landesmuseum.de/ueberuns/geschichte.html [accessed on: 15 March 2018]. 30 In the mid-1980s the German government assumed that each region of former East Germany and the southern terrains populated by Germans should have their own museum supported by the federation – B. Ociepka, Dziedzictwo wypędzonych…, p. 726. 31 Cf. criticism of the already closed exhibition as nationalistic in: U. Müller, Flucht ins Museum? Flucht im Museum? Das Ostpreußische Landesmuseum Lüneburg zwischen Mythos, Erinnerung, Geschichte und Gegenwart, in: Museum revisited. Transdisziplinäre Perspektiven auf eine Institution im Wandel, K. Dröge, D. Hoffmann (ed.), Verlag (transl.), Bielefeld 2010, pp. 249-260. 32 Cf. A. Kossert, Tradycje „stron ojczystych” w Republice Federalnej. Fenomen Prus Wschodnich, in: Wspólne dziedzictwo? …, pp. 763-788. 33 On ways of presenting German expellees in popular culture cf. E. Fendl, In Szene gesetzt. Populäre Darstellungen von Flucht und Vertreibung, in: Zur Ästhetik des Verlusts. Bilder von Heimat, Flucht und Vertreibung, E. Fendl (ed.), Waxmann (Schriftenreihe des Johannes-Künzig-Instituts, vol. 12), Münster 2011, pp. 45-70. 34 Characteristic of the permanent exhibition in: M. Sacha, Fantomowe dziedzictwo? O muzealnej reprezentacji dziedzictwa niemieckiego Wschodu oraz polskich Kresów, “Rocznik Antropologii Historii” 2016, no. 9, chapter: Muzea wschodnioniemieckie jako (re)prezentacja utraconego Heimatu – przykład Muzeum Prus Zachodnich, pp. 155-159. 35 Cf. westpreussisches-landesmuseum.de/pl/wystawy/ekspozycja-stala/ [accessed on: 19 March 2018]. 36 M. Kittel, Wypędzenie z pamięci? Dawny niemiecki Wschód i „nowa polityka wschodnia” w latach sześćdziesiątych i siedemdziesiątych, in: “Niemiecki Wschód”…, p. 329. 37 The integration of millions expelled from the East often encountered misunderstanding, resistance, and prejudice on the part of local Germans. Within this context homeland societies and museum institutions established by them played a significant part in absorbing the cultural heritage of the former German East conceived as an inseparable element of historically perceived German history and culture, cf. M. Kittle,Vertreibung der Vertriebenen? Der historische deutsche Osten in der Erinnerungskultur der Bundesrepublik (1961–1982), Oldenbourg Wissenschaftsverlag, Berlin-Boston 2007; A. Kossert,Kalte Heimat. Die Geschichte der deutschen Vertriebenen nach 1945, Siedler Verlag, München 2008. 38 Städtisches Museum , 1913-1945. 39 Cf. www.pommersches-landesmuseum.de 40 Cf. www.pommersches-landesmuseum.de/pl/muzeum/fundacja/-muzeum-w-basenie-morza-baltyckiego.html 41 Cf. T. Ślepowroński, Pamięć o przeszłości Pomorza w obecnie prezentowanej wystawie historycznej Muzeum Pomorza (Pommersches Landesmuseum) w Greifswaldzie / Gryfii, in: XIII Konferencja Kaszubsko-Pomorska. Kulturowe konteksty pamięci Pomorzan, C. Obracht-Prondzyński (ed.), Słupsk-Gdańsk 2016, pp. 255-267. 42 Cf. M. Bauer, Schlesien im Museum. Kultur und Geschichte Schlesiens in deutschen und polnischen Museen nach dem Zweiten Weltkrieg, in: “Inter Finitimos. Jahrbuch zur deutsch-polnischen Beziehungsgeschichte” 2012, no. 10, pp. 53-69. 43 www.schlesisches-museum.de/index.php?id=1294 [accessed on: 22 March 2018]. 44 This is appreciated by local museums in the Western Territories, cf. the example of co-operation between Polish and German expellees in Środa Śląska, Vertreibungen / Wypędzenia 1939–1949. Deutsche und polnische Vertriebenen-Schicksale / Losy polskich i niemieckich wypędzonych, Z. Aleksy, F. Heidtmann (ed.), / Środa Śląska 2004.

Bibliography Bauer M., Schlesien im Museum. Kultur und Geschichte Schlesiens in deutschen und polnischen Museen nach dem Zweiten Weltkrieg, w: „Inter Finitimos. Jahrbuch zur deutsch-polnischen Beziehungsgeschichte” 2012, nr 10, s. 53-69. Czerney S., Flucht, Vertreibung, Versöhnung – zwischen nationaler und europäischer Historiographie, w: „Inter Finitimos. Jahrbuch zur deutsch-polnischen Beziehungsgeschichte” 2012, nr 10, s. 149-158. Eisler C., Verwaltete Erinnerung – symbolische Politik. Die Heimatsammlungen der deutschen Flüchtlinge, Vertriebenen und Aussiedler, De Gruyter Oldenbourg, München 2015. Fendl E., In Szene gesetzt. Populäre Darstellungen von Flucht und Vertreibung, w: Zur Ästhetik des Verlusts. Bilder von Heimat, Flucht und Vertreibung, E. Fendl (red.), Münster 2011, Waxmann (Schriftenreihe des Johannes-Künzig-Instituts, t. 12), s. 45-70. Kittel M., Vertreibung der Vertriebenen? Der historische deutsche Osten in der Erinnerungskultur der Bundesrepublik (1961–1982), Oldenbourg Wissenschaftsverlag, Berlin-Boston 2007. Kittel M.,Wypędzenie z pamięci? Dawny niemiecki Wschód i „nowa polityka wschodnia” w latach sześćdziesiątych i siedemdziesiątych, w: „Niemiecki Wschód”. Wyobrażenia-misja-dziedzictwo, Ch. Kleßmann (wybór, wstęp, oprac.), I. Drozdowska-Broering, J. Kałążny (tłum.), Wydawnictwo Nauka i Innowacje, Poznań 2014, s. 319-332. Kleßmann Ch., „Niemiecki Wschód”, w: „Niemiecki Wschód”. Wyobrażenia-misja-dziedzictwo, Ch. Kleßmann (wybór, wstęp, oprac.), I. Drozdowska-Broering, J. Kałążny (tłum.), Wydawnictwo Nauka i Innowacje, Poznań 2014, s. 7-39. Kossert A., Kalte Heimat. Die Geschichte der deutschen Vertriebenen nach 1945, Siedler Verlag, München 2008. Kossert A., Tradycje „stron ojczystych” w Republice Federalnej. Fenomen Prus Wschodnich, w: Wspólne dziedzictwo? Ze studiów nad stosunkiem do spuścizny kulturowej na Ziemiach Zachodnich i Północnych, Z. Mazur (red.), Instytut Zachodni, „Ziemie Zachodnie. Studia i materiały” 2000, nr 22, s. 763-788. Martens J., Museumspolitik für das Erbe ehemals deutscher Gebiete, w: „Museumskunde” 1993, 58 (2/3), s. 123-130.

www.muzealnictworocznik.com MUZEALNICTWO 59 165 Mühle E., „Utracony niemiecki Wschód” w pamięci kulturowej nowo powstałej Republiki Federalnej Niemiec, Z. Mazur, M. Wagińska-Marzec (tłum.), w: Wspólne dziedzictwo? Ze studiów nad stosunkiem do spuścizny kulturowej na Ziemiach Zachodnich i Północnych, Z. Mazur (red.), Instytut Zachodni, „Ziemie Zachodnie. Studia i materiały” 2000, nr 22, s. 671-714. Müller U., Flucht ins Museum? Flucht im Museum? Das Ostpreußische Landesmuseum Lüneburg zwischen Mythos, Erinnerung, Geschichte und Gegenwart, w: Museum revisited. Transdisziplinäre Perspektiven auf eine Institution im Wandel, K. Dröge, D. Hoffmann (red.), Verlag (trans.), Bielefeld 2010, s. 249-260. Ociepka B., Dziedzictwo wypędzonych, w: Wspólne dziedzictwo? Ze studiów nad stosunkiem do spuścizny kulturowej na Ziemiach Zachodnich i Północnych, Z. Mazur (red.), Instytut Zachodni, „Ziemie Zachodnie. Studia i materiały” 2000, nr 22, s. 715-736. Sacha M., Fantomowe dziedzictwo? O muzealnej reprezentacji dziedzictwa niemieckiego Wschodu oraz polskich Kresów, w: „Rocznik Antropologii Historii” 2016, nr 9, s. 147-170; dostępne na stronie internetowej http://rah.pth.net.pl/uploads/2016_Dziedzictwo/Sacha.pdf Ślepowroński T., Pamięć o przeszłości Pomorza w obecnie prezentowanej wystawie historycznej Muzeum Pomorza (Pommersches Landesmuseum) w Greifswaldzie / Gryfii, w: XIII Konferencja Kaszubsko-Pomorska. Kulturowe konteksty pamięci Pomorzan, C. Obracht-Prondzyński (red.), Słupsk-Gdańsk 2016, s. 255-267. Vertreibungen / Wypędzenia 1939–1949. Deutsche und polnische Vertriebenen-Schicksale / Losy polskich i niemieckich wypędzonych, Z. Aleksy, F. Heidtmann (red.), Rinteln / Środa Śląska 2004.

Magdalena Izabella Sacha, Ph.D. Philologist, historian of literature and culture; (1998–2000) volunteer at the Buchenwald Memorial Site in Thuringia; (2001–2009) head of the Regional Museum in Krokowa, branch of the Regional Museum for West Prussia in Münster; (from 2004) assistant professor at the Chair of Cultural Studies of the University of Gdańsk; co-author of the exhibition: “Luther in ?” at the Gdynia City Museum (2017) upon the occasion of the 500th anniversary of the Reformation; member of the Board of the Upper Silesian Museum in Bytom; e-mail: [email protected]

Word count: 5 208; Tables: –; Figures: 9; References: 44 Received: 04.2018; Reviewed: 04.2018; Accepted: 05.2018; Published: 05.2018 DOI: 10.5604/01.3001.0012.0741 Copyright©: 2018 National Institute for Museums and Public Collections. Published by Index Copernicus Sp. z o.o. All rights reserved. Competing interests: Authors have declared that no competing interest exits. Cite this article as: Sacha M.I.; MUSEUMS OF THE LOST “GERMAN EAST”. CONDITIONS OF OPERATING AND THE EVOLUTION OF EXHIBITIONS IN THE POLISH-GERMAN CONTEXT. Muz., 2018(59): 68–78 Table of contents 2018: https://muzealnictworocznik.com/issue/10809

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